Monday, November 21, 2011

For many women, looking good comes with a price tag. But for Jayne Fenney, achieving a bikini body cost her her house.

After losing 11st, the 50-year-old was still desperately unhappy with her appearance.

She had so much excess skin that the cosmetic surgery bill to rebuild her body was put at £30,000.

After: Despite selling her house for the surgery, Miss Fenney is happy with the outcome

Her shopping list included a full body lift at £14,000, along with an armlift, breast uplift and thigh lift, which came to a further £16,000.

It was the sort of money she simply did not have access to. So she took the plunge and sold her smart three-bedroom semi-detached home in Rochester, Kent, for £120,000.

She now lives in a £75,000 mobile home and has had to sell her double bed, tumble drier and widescreen television – but says her new body is worth the sacrifice.

‘It may seem like a drastic decision but it was the best thing I ever did,’ she said. ‘I’ve swapped bricks and mortar for the body that I’ve always wanted and I don’t regret a single penny of it. Feeling great is worth ten houses.’

The three bedroom semi-detached house that she sold for £120,000 to fund cosmetic surgery

Jayne ballooned to 21 stone before deciding enough was enough and then she lost 11 stone leaving her with lots of excess skin

Miss Fenney had struggled with her weight since she was a child. By the age of ten, she weighed 10st.

She said: ‘I was teased at school and got called “weeble” and “treetrunk legs”. And the bigger I got the more I turned to food for comfort. It was a vicious circle. I’d raid Mum’s cupboards and binge on whatever I could find – tins of peaches and mounds of bread and cheese.’

At her heaviest, Miss Fenney weighed 21st.

She managed to diet down to 17st before undergoing a gastric band operation in December 2008. It cost £5,000 and was a success. Miss Fenney now weighs just 10st.

Jayne moved into a mobile home but, after regaining her confidence, says she has no regrets

But losing so much weight had left her with lots of excess skin all over her body.

She said: ‘With clothes on I looked fine, but I had the body of a 90-year-old woman underneath. My skin had stretched so much that I just looked like a deflated balloon.’

Twice-divorced Miss Fenney began to look into having cosmetic surgery, but she could not afford the £30,000 price tag. She said: ‘I was living on my own in my three-bedroom home with a 100-foot garden, so I decided I didn’t really need all that space.

‘I can now wear a bikini for the first time.

‘I’ve bought lots to show off my new figure and I’ve got so much more confidence.

‘I don’t cover up with a beach towel any more – I’m proud to show off my new body.’